Building with Tears

"Why are all these
people
sitting on the ground and crying?" This was a natural question for six-year
old Chaim to ask his father on his first visit to the Western Wall — the
Kotel — on Tisha B'Av.

"Well, my son, right next to the
place we are standing there once stood the holiest building in the world,
the Beit Hamikdash. This is where
Jews served Hashem with sacrifices throughout the year, and here all Jews came
at least three times a year. It was the most magnificent building ever seen.
It stood on the mountain where our forefather Avraham brought his son Yitzchak
and was prepared to offer him as a sacrifice to Hashem. Surrounding this Har
Habayit (Temple Mount) were four walls. But because of our sins the Beit
Hamikdash was destroyed on this day almost 2000 years ago, and all that
is left of the walls around the mountain upon which it stood is this Kotel.
Isn't that enough of a reason for Jews to cry?"

With the eternal optimism which is such a beautifully innocent part of childhood,
Chaim looked up at his father, whose eyes too were filled with tears, and said:

"But Abba, don't we believe that
Jerusalem and the Beit Hamikdash and
the walls around it will someday be rebuilt? Look at it this way — one
wall
is already up, so we only need to put up three more!"

The concept of rebuilding Jerusalem and the Beit Hamikdash is not limited
to the arrival of mashiach (messiah). That the Redeemer will merely
complete the job which we have started is evident from our daily prayer for
the rebuilding of Jerusalem. The prayer which begins with the plea for Hashem
to "return His Divine Presence to Jerusalem and rebuild it, soon in our
days, as an eternal structure" concludes with the words praising Hashem
as the "One Who is building Jerusalem." The use of the present
tense indicates that this construction is taking place right now, and leads
the great
biblical commentator Rabbi Moshe Sofer (Chatam Sofer) to present an interesting
approach to understanding the meaning of this title:

"The Third Beit Hamikdash,
which represents Jerusalem's ultimate building, will not be the product
of
human effort. The Midrash informs us that
it will come down from Heaven as a finished product. This indicates
that its construction is going on all the time. But what are the materials
with
which
Hashem is building this sacred edifice? The answer is — our
tears! The tears which are shed by Jews on Tisha B'Av and throughout
the year
are
supernaturally
transformed into the brick and mortar used by the Divine Builder Who
now is Jerusalem."

Each generation in which the Beit Hamikdash is not rebuilt, say the
Talmudic Sages, is considered as if it was guilty of its destruction. On the
surface this seems like a pretty heavy indictment of so many generations of
saintly Jews during the past two millennia who did not merit to see the Beit
Hamikdash rebuilt. But if we apply the aforementioned concept of building
with tears, the indictment is limited only to the generations who face the
absence of a Beit Hamikdash with a sense of complacency, as if the destiny
of the Jewish People is not dependent on this building coming down from Heaven.

This is the issue which has faced every generation since the destruction of
the Beit Hamikdash on Tisha B'Av so long ago, and which faces our own
generation. Do we realize how much is missing in our personal and national
self-fulfillment because we lack this spiritual generator? And is this sense
of unfulfilled spiritual potential profound enough to move us to tears?

Both Chaim and his father were right. We only have three more walls to build.
But it is the tears in the eyes of his father and all the other Jews at the Kotel and
throughout the world which are building those walls -- today.

Articles may be distributed to another person intact without prior permission. We also encourage you to include this material in other publications, such as synagogue or school newsletters. Hardcopy or electronic. However, we ask that you contact us beforehand for permission in advance at ohr@ohr.edu and credit for the source as Ohr Somayach Institutions www.ohr.edu